Shadows of My Past
by Phantom Splash
Summary: Four months have passed since the showdown between Korra and Amon, and the two think that there would be no chance their paths would ever cross again. Of course, fate loves to have a sense of humor... Post season 1 AU, Amorra!


**Hey guys! Sorry, I've been meaning to start publishing this way back in July, but I kept on re-editing the plot because I wasn't that satisfied with it. :/**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this Amorra fic! Just as a warning, this will most likely give you feels. Lots of feels. So, be prepared and don't say I didn't warn you! ;)**

**Also, thanks to Sevystorm on deviantart for giving me this plot idea. Sorry, I kinda changed it up a little... lot. XD  
**

The sky's previous black hue had faded to indigo, a sign that the sun was quickly approaching the horizon that encircled Republic City. A mist that was hovering in the mountains slowly drifted down into the great city below, its smokey tendrils soon reaching out across Yue Bay to Air Temple Island, blanketing it as well.

Up in women's dormitory, one lay awake in her bed, unable to drift into the peaceful sleep that the other residents had achieved. Even though a year had passed since her showdown with Amon, Korra was still haunted by what her memories put her through. Twisted with the wild imagination she was gifted with, sleep was something that she no longer enjoyed, and tonight was no exception. As soon as she awoke, the vivid dream quickly faded away from memory, but the small fragments that remained had strongly discouraged her from re-entering a REM state.

_Hot, moist breath puffed heavily against her back as giant maws snapped at her, only inches away. She kept on running, but the creature behind her never increased or decreased in distance. Even though she never looked behind her back, in fear of being overtaken, she knew exactly what the creature looked like. It was a two-headed dog-like creature almost twice the size of Naga. Burning hot saliva mixed with rusty blood poured out of the two mouths as forked tongues occasionally snaked out of one of the mouths and tried to trip her up. Thick, coarse hair covered their black bodies, barely long enough to conceal the bulging muscles that hid underneath, powering every long stride it took. The eyes were completely glazed over with a pearly hue, but that didn't prevent them from glaring at her with every ounce of malice that could be mustered. The dog, although fearsome, was not what caught her attention. Instead, it was the rider, Amon, or rather, Noatak. His mask was gone, and the same expression he wore while emerging from the water was currently on his face. _

_"You will regret becoming enemies with me, __**Avatar**__!" His voice was inside her head, every word reverberating throughout her._

Darkness.

_Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo were supposed to be flying on their gliders with her above Yue Bay, but they had managed to hide from her within the moment it took for her to blink._

_"Guys, this isn't funny! Tenzin'll kill me if I don't come back with your sorry rears!" The air beneath the wings of her glider suddenly refused to be bent. The descent towards the large sapphire waves was rapid, the air that refused to be bent tugging and rustling her clothes. She occasionally managed to regain control, but only for a few moments before she continued to fall once more. The crest that Korra crashed into was extremely cold, but quickly became a burning hot. As soon as she found her way to the surface, the unnaturally bright light of Republic City caught her eye. The city was on fire. It wasn't a small fire that took hold of some buildings and streets, but the entire place was literally engulfed in a giant flame that rivaled the height of the surrounding mountains. She quickly looked over to see the condition of Air Temple Island, but the only thing that remained was dark ashes. _

_The water continued to increase in heat until it burned her skin. She tried to move so she could escape the searing heat, but not a single muscle complied with her demands as she was forced to face Aang Memorial Island. The entire place was filled with people who were chiseling away at the statue and desecrating the monument. Even though she must've been over half a mile away, she could still hear the screams of anger that came from the mob._

_"Where is justice? Where is the __**balance**__ that we were promised?"_

_"The Avatar has done nothing to help __**anyone**__!"_

_"Kill her!" A roar of cheers followed._

_"All benders must __**pay**__!"_

Darkness.

_Her feet and arms were tied in a way that forced her to remain on her knees. A figure stepped out of the shadows. It was Amon, his mask now covering his face._

_"This time, I will __**not**__ underestimate you. All of your bending will be removed, __**including **__energybending." He placed one thumb on her collar, the other against her forehead. Light seemed to be pulled out of her as Amon slowly sucked away her bending. Excruciating pain shot through every vein, stabbing at every chi path. It felt as if her very being was getting sucked out of her body. After what seemed to be days, she was released._

_"It is finished. You are now nothing."_

That was the end of what she remembered. Those thoughts, combined with past nightmares continued to circulate through her mind, robbing her of any hope of having a peaceful night. Once she noticed the stars were beginning to vanish from their places, she pulled one of her cerulean tanks on over her mocha skin, skin tingling from the cool, fluid fabric. After pulling on a pair of baggy pants that nearly covered her toes, she nimbly crawled onto the windowsill and jumped out of her room.

The bushes below greeted her with a chorus of crackles and snaps as she landed heavily on the ground, wincing in pain while wishing that she hadn't left her shoes behind. She continued to wade through the thick branches laden with thick, waxy leaves until her feet met the cool, stone path. Even though the lighting was still very poor, Korra did not need it to know where to go, for she had used this path many times during the past few months.

The smooth stone zig-zagged down the edge of the island until it finally gave way to a small sandy beach. The calm water slowly crept up the sand a few inches, then slid back down. Korra sat down so the small waves would creep up an envelop her feet before receding once again.

Once comfortable, she allowed her mind to wander, soon engrossed by deep thoughts about the duty of the Avatar, not noticing the soft footsteps slowly approaching behind her.

"Can't sleep?" The soft voice of Asami startled Korra as she swiftly spun around to face her. The curly haired girl smiled in reply, amused by her reaction. She took a seat next to the Avatar, allowing her black leather boots to be enveloped by the salty surf.

"Guess not. Even though Amon's gone, he still chooses to haunt me while I sleep… Well, at least try to." It was not a rare occurrence for Asami to show up after Korra had another sleepless night, and after several hours of talking, she was no longer afraid to open up to the non-bender. In fact, it had become far easier to talk to her than the majority of the people she knew on the island.

"He'll leave soon, I'm sure. If it helps at all, you're not the only one to have nightmares filled with people wanting to destroy you."

"You're still having ones of your father?"

Asami bit her lower lip as she scowled for a few seconds. "Unfortunately. He's always coming up with new weapons and new ways to torment benders."

The two stared out at the sapphire water, comforted just by each other's presence. The silence was interrupted as Asami stood up, her attention captured by something farther down the beach.

"What's that?" She squinted, trying to figure out what a certain object was.

"What's what?" Korra stood up and followed her vision until a large white item half-buried by the sand caught her eye. The two walked over to where the white item was and Korra immediately began to brush off the excess sand, uncovering the item. After a few swipes at the sand, the Avatar jumped back in shock while Asami tensed and stared at the object with dismay. None uttered a word as they studied what Korra had exposed.

_It was the mask of Amon_. The months spent at sea had not tainted the thick, smooth porcelain at all. Empty eyes and a condescending smirk met the girls' surprised expressions. Korra timidly bent over and reached out to grab the mask.

"What are you doing?" Asami hissed.

"Picking it up." Korra replied, exasperated by having to state the obivious.

"But _why_?"

"So I can smash this wretched thing and be done with it!" Korra's fingers roughly grabbed the edges of the mask, but screamed and released it moments later. A feeling similar to electric shock coursed through the veins in her arms as blinding light overtook her vision. moments later, it receded, revealing that she was now standing in the middle of a large snowy field at night. What little light there was was magnified by the thick blankets of white that surrounded her.

_"We're your __**sons**__, not your tools of revenge!" The freezing snow blew harshly against her face as she glared at the older man in front of her. He struggled against the invisible bonds she forced onto him. She turned to her younger brother. "Let's go, we can run away from him. Forever."_

_"Run away?" The younger one's eyes clouded with doubt. "But, what about mom? We can't just leave her!"_

_"He's right about you." She glared at him with disgust. "You __**are**__ a weakling." Her brother's eyes lowered, filled with shame, upset that he had clearly disappointed her. _

_With a swift motion of her hand, she bloodbent her father once more, sending him flying far into the distance. The grunt filled with pain that responded filled her with a sick satisfaction. Knowing her brother would not join her on her escape, she immidiately began to sprint away from him, not glancing once at his face that was filled with fear and desperation._

_She knew that if she did, she would stop. She would obey his pleas for her to stay. She would stay and continue to put up with all of the expectations her father had for her. Her brother would make her promise to not leave, and she would. But she knew she couldn't. Even though she loved him so much, she couldn't continue to deal with all that her father put them through, so she continued to run. The cries of her brother quickly faded into the distance. They were the last words she thought she'd ever hear from her sibling._

_The anguish that filled her heart made it feel as if it were going to snap at any given moment._

.o.o.o.

His breathing was raspy and shallow. Thick, red scars covered his body, the once flawless skin now forever gone. He was once a councilman, with a goal of becoming the most powerful man in Republic City nearly within grasp. That is, until he tried to take the Avatar hostage after being revealed as a bloodbender. Well, he _was_ a bloodbender until his own brother removed his bending and imprisoned him. Now after these few months of insanity, he was bedridden, the memories of his foolishness flashing through his head every waking moment.

His plan was perfect. After appearing as a good guy in front of the Avatar and the firebender and telling them Amon's story, they ran off, eager to expose the equalist leader. He knew that there was nothing they could really do to expose Noatak as a bender, so they would have been captured by the equalists after a failed attempt to turn them against him. Tarrlok could then claim he practically handed the Avatar to Amon on a silver platter, and perhaps get a chance to slowly regain power once more, this time with the equalists. There was no chance that the benders could have won this fight, so he may as well join them while he had the opportunity.

It _was_ perfect… Until Noatak showed up at his cell, his mask nowhere in sight. Knowing that the equalists would lose now that their leader had been declared a fraud, all hopes of gaining power had vanished. He decided to follow his brother and escape on a motorboat, knowing that the fate he council had in store for him was definitely undesirable. As Tarrlok sat in that boat, waiting for his new life to arrive, he began to realize that living as a peasant would be just as undesirable as a life sentence. That was when the equalist gloves and the cap to the gas tank caught his eye.

If everything went according to plan, their deaths would be relatively painless. After awhile, someone would find their bodies and perhaps also find the boat debris, then put two and two together. He would be crowned a hero, the one who escaped with Amon just so he could sacrifice himself in order to end the former equalist leader's evil life. Perhaps he may even not be punished in the afterlife.

After sliding on the thick metal glove and unscrewing the lid to the gas tank, he braced himself, preparing to die the moment electricity shot out of his palm. He would've, if it weren't for is brother heroically saving them by bending a protective wall of ice to shield them both from the explosion. Although Noatak was fairly fast with his reaction, he didn't create a barrier thick enough to shield Tarrlok from the entire explosion. Halfway through, the ice melted and the blazing inferno consumed him. It only took a moment for the explosion to surround him before a piece of flying debris struck the side of his head, knocking him unconscious.

When he first awoke, he was inside a healer's hut, completely encased in bandages. He slowly turned his head to the side to see his brother sitting on a chair, sleeping peacefully. He was garbed in peasant clothes and his head had been shaved, black stubble barely peaking out from his crown. There was a large scar that cut deeply into the left side of his face, starting at his temple and gradually curving to the right until it ended right above his lip, barely off center. Other than that, there were only a few minor scars that would easily disappear after a few years.

As for him… He dreaded the day he viewed himself in the mirror, knowing that he was extremely mottled from the explosion. Days slowly passed as Tarrlok began to recuperate, starting with barely being able to even feed himself until after two weeks, he could stand and walk on his own. After the healer was sure he was just fine, he was allowed to leave the building once and for all.

Thinking that they would now be forced to live on the streets, Tarrlok was greatly surprised when his brother led him into a small shack that had just barely enough room for the two to comfortably live in. Apparently he had been in a coma for nearly two months, so Noatak had worked constantly in order to be able to afford a place for them to live in. It wasn't much, but it definitely beat living in a box in a dark alley.

After Tarrlok was well enough to do normal activities, he joined his brother in working on a large farm, either planting, harvesting, or packing the food that was grown there. During that time, he had made several attempts to kill himself or murder his brother, each time ending in utter failure when Noatak had stopped him and been forced to restrain him until he promised to not try that again…Which was, of course, a lie. As the toil-filled days passed, he soon entered a state of mind where he felt as if it were better if he departed from this world, and Noatak was evil for depriving him of the privilege of choosing life or death. No matter how hard he tried to end himself once and for all, Noatak always seemed to be a step ahead of him.

That is, until Tarrlok collapsed while planting vegetables in one of the fields on the farm.

When he awoke, he was in another healer's hut, Noatak nervously pacing the floor next to him, waiting for the healer to come back with results. When he finally did, the expression on his brother's face first began with relief, then returned to anxiety as the healer began to speak.

"Tarrlok has a few pieces of shrapnel embedded in his torso. Quite a few vessels had been nicked and he's been bleeding internally ever since his accident. There is a special bloodbending surgery that can be performed in order to heal him, but it can only be done during the full moon and costs thirty thousand yuans in medical expenses. I estimate that there is a chance for him to be fully healed if you have the surgery done by the next full moon, which is in a week. Otherwise, I'm afraid the chances of Tarrlok to survive for much longer than that are very slim." Sensing the anger that boiled off of Noatak, the healer bowed once, then left the room.

As soon as he left, Noatak spun around and punched the wall, leaving behind a large dent. A tear silently rolled down his cheek, landing softly on his olive green burlap shirt. Tarrlok stared at nothing, attempting to overcome his shock. Gradually, a smirk crept over his lips as he inwardly crowed about his victory. He was slowly dying, and this time, there was nothing his brother could do to stop him

**Sorry that the part with Amon and Tarrlok is really rushed! :/ I wanted to get this fic going right off the bat, instead of taking a few chapters to start building it up. **


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